SMU students rushed the field after the Mustangs took down No. 10 Miami at home on Saturday, Nov. 1.
As the Mustangs lined up to play their final possession in overtime, SMU students started gathering towards the front of the student section in anticipation.
After T.J. Harden scored the winning touchdown of the game, students hopped down from the student section and rushed the field towards the team.
“It’s just so cool,” said SMU senior Luke Latham. “SMU really proved themselves today. It was great to be out there, supporting the team and we did a really good job.”
The thought of rushing the field had been on the minds of students since earlier this week.
On Monday, Nov. 27, at Rock the Vote, athletic director Damon Evans told the student body that if SMU won against Miami, he wanted to see students rushing the field and cheering with the team.
“I expect our students to be meeting on this field should we win,” Evans said.
SMU football captains, Alexander Kilgore and PJ Williams, also appeared on the Rock the Vote stage, confident that the team would defeat Miami. They encouraged the crowd of students to rush the field after the win, aiming to boost excitement and attendance for the game.
SMU Student Taylor Landis, who was in the crowd, was excited when she heard the announcement.
“I had never witnessed a field rush in person before, so knowing that my school would be flooding the football field when our Mustangs took home the win was an unreal thought,” Landies said.
Landis, a member of the SMU Spirit team, was on the field when the student section rushed down to celebrate with the team.
“I could see the lower sections of the stands preparing to jump the fence and celebrate with the team as we were taking our turn in overtime,” Landis said. “The entire game, I was hoping for that moment: all of the students and fans of SMU coming together on the field, celebrating the team’s hard work of the past three hours.”
Similar to all football schools, when students rush the field, the school receives a fine.
The fine structure for the ACC is “$50,000, $100,000 and $200,000,” ACC Commissioner Jim Philips said during a press conference in July.
According to the ACC, SMU will be fined $50,000 for a first offense.
In an X post, SMU president Jay Hartzell said, “I neither condone nor support it, for the record, but I’ll pay the fine…✌️❤️”
In all the excitement, students were seen taking down the goalpost and carrying it out of the stadium, where it was paraded down the Boulevard.
SMU’s FIZZ showed students taking parts of the field post to the Dallas Hall fountain and “baptizing it” in the water.
SMU Barstools’ Instagram account shared videos of students carrying parts of the goalpost to the Barley House bar on SMU Boulevard, where SMU police were seen stopping students just before they crossed the highway.
When The Daily Campus contacted SMU PD, they said they could not provide a further statement about the incident.
The Barley House Instagram confirmed the pole was heading to its bar with an Instagram story saying, “Great win SMU! Heard the goal post is heading over now.”
Yesterday, Nov. 2, SMU Football sent an email to the SMU community auctioning off parts of the field goal post. The limited-quantity auction items include six-inch and 10-inch pieces of the winning goalpost featuring the game date and final score. Fans have until Nov. 12 to bid on the goalpost.
